Why was she here in south-west France, of all places? It was all because of Annie, her younger sister. Annie usually lived in South America. Earlier in the year, Annie got ill and now she was to have a holiday in Europe. Miss Bracegirdle’s brother could not come to meet Annie off the boat: he had too much work to do in Easingstoke. So Miss Bracegirdle was the only other person.
‘The ship is going to arrive in Bordeaux tomorrow,’ thought Miss Bracegirdle. ‘And I am going to see Annie again after all these years.’
This was Miss Bracegirdle’s first visit to France. She did not usually take holidays away from home. Luckily she spoke a little French. ‘It is not difficult to live in France,’ she thought. ‘The thing to understand is that is quite different from Easingstoke.’
She took her things one by one out of her bag and put them away carefully. She thought about her home in Easing stoke, with flowers in all the rooms and photographs of the family.
